


A Fine Line

by ChickenXD



Category: Hatoful Kareshi | Hatoful Boyfriend
Genre: Domestic, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-28
Updated: 2017-05-19
Packaged: 2018-10-25 00:25:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10752879
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChickenXD/pseuds/ChickenXD
Summary: Yuuya meets an old friend.





	1. Chapter 1

 

“You called?”

Yuuya walked into Leone’s office and closed the door behind him. Leone was sitting at the sofa, smoking a cigarette while flipping through the pages in a binder.

“Ah, Sakazaki,” Leone replied, glancing at him, “Slow times, eh?”

“I mean, for you, I guess,” Yuuya replied, sitting down next to him, “You got something for me?”

“A special assignment.”

“Haven’t had one of those in a while,” Yuuya said, “So whose dick am I sucking this time?”

“It’s nothing like that this time, actually,” Leone replied, “We just need you to watch over somebody.”

“A bodyguard job?”

“You can think of it that way,” Leone replied, “Someone has defected from the Hawk Party and is willing to work with us, but they want protection.”

“What’s their name?”

“...you know what, I don’t know yet either,” Leone replied, “I mean, obviously you’ll know, very soon, but this information isn’t mean to spread around.”

“Man.”

“Anyway, seems like they’re placed in a hideout and such, but you’re still going there for good measure,” Leone said, “You won’t be able to leave that person alone for a good while, no contact with the outside world unless it’s through whoever supervises you.”

“Oh shit, that’s scary.”

“Will you take it though?”

“I mean,” Yuuya sighed, “I kinda have to, right?”

“You’ll get to call your brother,” Leone reassured, “Someone’s just going to monitor it.”

“Gee, with all this work, I sure hope it’s a pretty lady.”

~•~

The hideout he’s headed to is a rather old apartment in a rather secluded part of town. Sure it seems dangerous, but also someplace like this would probably be the last place the Hawks search. 

A lady picked him up from the office and drove him here – not a long trip, maybe about an hour. Now she’s led him up to the room, on the third floor–

Yuuya stood there nervously while she knocked the door three times, then waited. Yuuya couldn’t hear anything from inside the room–

“Is it soundproof?”

She nodded. 

“There will be a camera in every room but the bedroom and bathroom.”

“Nice.”

The door then creaked open, and–

 

The man in front of him was obviously surprised, but in mere seconds the surprise seemed to have turned into irritation. 

Yuuya almost could hardly believe what he was seeing, a familiar face–

 

“...you sure you don’t have anyone else?”

“You wanted a bodyguard, and he’s the best we’ve got,” she replied, “So, Sakazaki, this is–”

“Iwamine-sensei,” Yuuya greeted, smiling sheepishly – “It’s… it’s been a while.”

Shuu turned to look at him angrily, and then sighed loudly. 

“Do you have any concerns, sir?”

“I mean, it’s just…” Shuu sighed again, “Fine, whatever.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

This is a pretty nice place.

Yuuya can’t help but think about how he hasn’t really had a permanent place to stay at these past few months. This apartment may be pretty basic, but hey, he’s been in worse places. 

As for Shuu, seems like for now he’s resorted to not talking to Yuuya at all, ignoring his presence. This does make things a little awkward, but Yuuya’s not worried at all – they’re going to be stuck together here for a while, so things will warm up soon, Yuuya hoped. 

This won’t stop Yuuya from trying to strike a conversation though, no matter how one-sided. 

“So, that lady has been the one taking care of you?”

Shuu didn’t reply – didn’t even as much as look at Yuuya. 

Yuuya opened the fridge to check – it’s mostly empty, but there’s still milk, apple juice, an orange, half a loaf of bread–

“We need groceries. Have you even been eating?”

No reply, again.

Yuuya dialed a number on his phone as he opened the door to the pantry – there’s nothing here too, other than a huge box of prepackaged coffee powder. 

 

“Hello, yeah, Sakazaki here. Can I go out to do groceries?”

Shuu noticed that Yuuya was finally walking out of the kitchen, but he’s on a call with someone. 

“Yeah, I’ll bring him along.”

_ Oh, oh no. _

“Okay, half an hour? Thanks.”

Yuuya hung up then, turning to look at Shuu – Shuu quickly turned back to doing his crossword ( he’s been stuck for a while now and was just coloring in ta dog in the comics panel, but Yuuya doesn’t need to know that.)

“We’re going to the store,” Yuuya said, “I can’t go alone, so you should get ready too. The car will be here in half an hour.”

Shuu doesn’t reply – he just waited for about eight seconds for Yuuya would have taken his eyes off him, then turned back to look at Yuuya – he’s making coffee now. Two cups of coffee, actually. 

_ He’s grown, _ Shuu caught himself thinking – he’s a bit taller now, and Shuu can see he’s maintained that well-toned body, although he can’t see much from the distance. Shuu couldn’t help but think he’d need a closer look at–

He noticed then that Yuuya was staring back at him, smiling, and Shuu suddenly felt an urge to punch his perfect face in. 

“What would you like with your coffee, Iwamine-sensei?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Shuu replied, turning back to his crossword – “Asshole.”

Yuuya let out a little laugh as he turned back to the coffee machine, and a minute later Yuuya was in front of him, handing him a cup. 

“This is just like the old times, huh?” Yuuya asked, sitting in front of him – Shuu wanted to tell him to go away, but he also knew it’d be useless, since they’d still be stuck in the same apartment. 

“Oh, you need help with that?” Yuuya asked, noticing the crossword Shuu was working on – “Or have you given up on it?”

Shuu didn’t say anything, only casually handed him the newspaper along with his pencil and eraser. Yuuya looked at the questions left of the crossword, occasionally turning to count how many letters the answer should be–

Shuu took the coffee cup and sipped some of it. Seems like Yuuya couldn’t find anything to add to the coffee, so it was just bitter with a bit of a sour aftertaste–

Yuuya’s right. This does feel reminiscent.

~•~

“If you see anything you want, just get it,” Yuuya said, “I guess now I have to make sure you eat right, too.”

“I don’t want anything.”

“Don’t be a pissy old man,” Yuuya sighed as they started walking to the soap aisle – Yuuya grabbed a pack of bread and threw them into the cart. And then some pasta, a few jars of sauce – 

Shuu mostly just looked around as Yuuya added more stuff into their basket. It was a few aisles later that Yuuya finally turned to Shuu, slightly concerned.

“Aren’t you going to get anything?”

“I told you, I don’t want anything.”

“Is there anything you’re allergic to?”

Shuu shook his head.

“What do you usually eat?”

“Ramen.”

“We can do better than that,” Yuuya said, “I’ll cook you a delicious, nutritious meal!”

“No.”

“Oh, come on, Iwamine-sensei, it’s my job to take care of you and keep you safe–”

“I didn’t ask for it, did I?”

Yuuya could only sigh. Seems like Shuu’s going to continue being difficult like before…

They went a few good aisles until they arrived near the books, where Shuu finally picked out something – just a couple crossword books. 

“Do you not have a better hobby?”

Shuu only glared at him as he threw the books into the cart. 

“You wanna try, I don’t know, gardening or cooking?”

Shuu didn’t reply, just walked away. Yuuya only sighed as he followed. 

 

The rest of the day was about as uneventful as when it started. Shuu sat down in front of the TV and watched… some show about people in an office who can’t seem to stand each other, while Yuuya threw some vegetables in a pan and started boiling some pasta while watching the show from the kitchen. Some moments were genuinely funny, but seems like this didn’t elicit any reaction from Shuu – or maybe Yuuya just didn’t see it. 

Yuuya watched the TV from where he stood for a few minutes before turning back to continue cooking. This is pretty simple nevertheless, and Yuuya was just kind of tired. 

He strained the pasta, put some sauce and mixed them well, then put them on the plate with some vegetables. 

“Dinner’s ready.”

“I’m not hungry,” Shuu said, “You can eat first.”

Yuuya brought his plate with him as he sat down next to Shuu on the couch, watching along with him. 

Suddenly, without saying a word, Shuu got up from the couch and left. Yuuya only sighed as Shuu walked back into his room and shut the door behind him…

Yeah, it’ll take time alright.   
  



	3. Chapter 3

Shuu woke up the next morning to a sweet scent coming from outside and what sounded like a sizzling sound. He sighed as he slowly got up from his bed and opened the door to look out –

Yuuya was by the stove, cooking something. He must’ve heard the creak of Shuu’s door, because he quickly turned around to look–

“Ah, Iwamine–”

Shuu quickly slammed the door back shut. 

Yuuya only sighed as he continued cooking his toast. Shuu will get hungry at some point and come out of his room anyway.

 

But Shuu didn’t come out of the room, even an hour later – Yuuya couldn’t help but worry. He’s finished his plate at this point, washed his plate and the pan, watched some news–

But it is boring now that he can’t go out, Yuuya quickly realized, and thanks to Shuu, things have just become a bit aw _ kward if not tense.  _

_ I’ve only been here for less than twenty four hours, but really, it’s not like we’re strangers _ , Yuuya thought –  _ maybe he just doesn’t want to talk about what happened? It’s been years though… _

He turned around to look, and saw the plate of toast still sitting at the kitchen counter. It’s almost 12 o’clock now, and Shuu hasn’t eaten or drank anything–

 

“Iwamine-sensei?”

Yuuya knocked on the door three times, holding the plate of toast that he had to reheat slightly.

“Aren’t you hungry? You wanna eat? Can I come in?”

Yuuya waited for a few seconds, but no answer. He knocked again, and then casually opened the door and walked in.

Shuu was lying on his side on the bed, reading a book, but slightly looked up at Yuuya as he walked in.

“...I didn’t say yes.”

“Well, you need to eat,” Yuuya said, “Part of my job is to make sure you stay healthy.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“You still need to eat,” Yuuya said, placing the plate on the bedside table. Shuu looked up at it – just a few pieces of toast with syrup, strawberries, and chocolate.

“Or do you want something else? I can cook something heavier. It’s pretty much lunchtime anyway.”

“I’m not hungry.”

“Don’t make this hard for me,” Yuuya sighed, cutting a piece of the toast with the fork and shoving it at Shuu’s face – 

“Don’t treat me like a fucking baby,” Shuu said, grabbing the fork from Yuuya’s hand and finally eating the bite. Yuuya couldn’t help but smile and nod in approval.

“That’s good. Now finish that plate, will you?”

“Fuck you.”

“You know I can’t go away just because you’re a little fussy, right? At most they’ll just send someone else here.”

Shuu didn’t say anything after that, so Yuuya only watched him turn his back to Yuuya, clearly not intending to eat more than the bite Yuuya’s given him.

“You wanna talk it out, Iwamine-sensei?” 

“About?”

“How you got here? Why you left the Hawks?” Yuuya asked, “Is your name even still Iwamine?”

“I mean, I’d like you to stop calling me that.”

“So what do you want to be called?” Yuuya asked, “Isa Souma?”

“Just call me Shuu. It’s not hard.”

“Whoa, really?”

“I’m not your teacher anymore, am I?”

“Sure, I guess…”

“Get out of here,” Shuu sighed, “I can take care of myself okay.”

“I’m going to cook lunch now, so please eat that toast.”

“And why do you need to? I haven’t even finished my food.”

“I’m just trying to keep a routine here, okay,” Yuuya said, “It’s not often that I get to have a home life like this, so I wanna enjoy it.”

“By setting yourself to a routine?”

“It gives me a feeling of stability,” Yuuya said, “And it’s better than whatever you’re doing.”

“Being sad can be fun too.”

“Did enough of that,” Yuuya sighed, “Anything you particularly want for lunch?”

Shuu didn’t say anything for a few seconds, seemingly reading his book pretty intensely. Yuuya could only sigh again as he walked out–

“You bought curry seasoning yesterday, right?”

“Sure, I’ll make curry.”

 

Yuuya was in the middle of stirring the curry when Shuu walked out, placing his plate on the table.

“Smells good.”

“Oh, thanks! I’m almost done.”

Shuu stood there for a while, watching Yuuya cook without saying a word. Yuuya took a spoon and tasted some of the curry, and stirred in some more salt.

“You said you wanted to talk?”

“I mean, I won’t force you,” Yuuya replied, “It’s fine if you don’t want to talk to me yet.”

“We live together now, so we… have to eventually, right?”

“But again, it doesn’t have to be right now.”

Yuuya turned off the stove and ladled some of the curry onto a plate before handing it to Shuu.

“How’s Sakuya?”

“Fine,” Yuuya replied, then smiled a little, “I haven’t talked to him in a while – I’ve been busy, he’s been busy… but it’s fine. He’s a dad now, he’s gotta be busy.”

“You ever envy him?”

“A little,” Yuuya sighed, “But well, I’m still an uncle. That’s good enough for me. Kind of like, you know, the illusion of having a normal life. But that’s fine.”

“I mean, I’m sure it’s more fun to spend time with them rather than with me.”

“Just gotta do what you gotta do, right?”

Shuu only sighed as he walked back to the sofa and sat down.

 

The illusion of having a normal life, huh.

Shuu could remember being like that, too. Watching couples walk down the street, parents with their happy children visiting Santa,

And then at some point realized he doesn’t need any of that, really, and probably won’t be able to have it as well. 

 

“I mean, have you dated anyone? You were the hot shit back in school.”

“Oh, I mean, that was mostly acting,” Yuuya replied, “I’ve been seeing people, I guess, but nothing really sticks anyway, thanks to my job. Which is probably a good thing for them too, since they probably don’t wanna dabble in the spy bullshit.”

“Really,” Shuu said, “You’re sad, Yuuya.”

“Okay, in my defense, I did get pretty serious with this guy once.”

“Uh-huh, go on…”

“And like… we were going out, right, to dinner, to the bar and shit,” Yuuya said while he sat down, things about to get real here everyone – “And we fucked a few times, but like six months in he told me he had a girlfriend.”

“Oh, that’s a dick move alright.”

“I was thinking, sure, if you’re still in the closet, that’s cool, but like, don’t do this to your girlfriend, you know?”

“I can’t believe you were a side bitch.”

“Said the original side bitch right here.”

Yuuya was going to laugh at that joke, but saw that Shuu’s expression was turning a little sour.

“Anyway, they’ve broken up now.”

“Did you play any hand in that?”

“Oh, definitely,” Yuuya replied slyly, “She deserves better.

“What about you, Iwa-- Shuu, any romantic adventures?”

“I hook up every now and then, but nothing lasting, no.”

“We’re both pretty sad, huh,” Yuuya sighed, “Well, at least you have me now.”

“...what do you mean by that?”

“I don’t know, but at least we have each other now, don’t we?”

Shuu shot Yuuya a glare, before sighing and continuing to eat his curry.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

Seems like it’ll be another typical day today.

Shuu was lying on his side on the couch, watching TV, while Yuuya’s in the kitchen, looking at what’s left in the fridge.

“What do you want to eat today?”

“Whatever,” Shuu replied without turning his attention from the TV.

“You wanna help me cook?” Yuuya said, “I mean, it’s not like you have anything else to do.”

Shuu sat up slightly, looking at Yuuya.

“We can do something simple,” Yuuya offered, “Pasta? Or something with rice?”

“You know I’m not very good at cooking, right?”

“Oh, come on, you used to cut up shit all the time.”

“I suppose we can try something simple…”

“Pasta, then?” Yuuya asked, “We can do it with like… tomato sauce, some shrimp?”

Shuu finally got up from the sofa and walked to Yuuya. 

“I can do the tomato sauce,” Shuu said as he watched Yuuya grab tomatoes from the fridge, “Just chop them up, right?”

“No, boil them first, and put them in the blender, then cook them, I guess.” Yuuya handed Shuu a box, “Here you go.”

“Why don’t you just buy bottled sauces?”

“Hey, I’m trying to make this a fun activity,” Yuuya said, “There’s only so much you can do in this small house.”

“I thought you can ask them to let us go out?”

“I mean, we can’t go out every day, so we have to make do.”

“I guess.”

“Yeah. And I’ll just be peeling the shrimp.”

Shuu started to run the tomato under the water, before putting them in a pot and filling it with water. 

“Is this enough water, Yuuya?”

“Sure,” Yuuya said, glancing over – “I’d say boil the water first then put the tomatoes in.”

“You’re good at this.”

“You need help carrying that to the stove?”

“I’ll be fine,” Shuu said, lifting the pot – Yuuya quickly noticed then Shuu’s right hand was trembling as he lifted the pot of water, and took the pot instead. Shuu let him, watching him walk away to the stove. 

“It wasn’t that heavy.”

“It’s fine, I’ll do the heavy lifting.”

“Fine,” Shuu grumbled. 

“You can do the garlic instead. You know how to do it?”

“I mean… sure,” Shuu said, taking a bulb of garlic – “Why not just cook ramen? Just boil water and pop in a bag.”

“You’re going to have to eat well under my watch, Shuu.”

Shuu only sighed as he started crushing some garlic under a knife. It didn’t seem flat enough, so Shuu tried to crush it again. 

“How many do we need?”

“Five should be fine.”

Shuu picked up the knife, and started trying to mince the garlic – Yuuya noticed that Shuu’s right hand was still trembling as he held his knife–

“Be careful.”

“I know how to do this,” Shuu said, cutting carefully. Yuuya started peeling some shrimp, quickly tossing the shells into the trash can.

Shuu finally got done mincing the garlic, just in time for the water to boil so Yuuya could put in the tomatoes. Shuu only watched as Yuuya ladled them up and put them on a plate.

“It makes the skin peel off really easily, you see,” Yuuya said, carefully peeling the skin of a tomato – ”Oh shit oh shit it’s still really hot.”

“Of course, dumbass.”

“Anyway, we should be able to mush these easily and cook them.”

“Can I do any of that?”

“Sure, you wanna do the sauce?” 

Shuu carefully took out a pan, making sure to hold the handle super tight so that Yuuya doesn’t notice his hand trembling, and put it on the stove.

“Do you know how to do it?”

“Not really.”

“Let’s turn this on first,” Yuuya said, turning the stove on, “And then fry the garlic, add the tomato and mush it up, you know, and then just add salt.”

“How do I know it’s done?”

Yuuya shrugged, “I usually just taste it. Be careful when cooking.”

“I’m not a fucking child, Yuuya.”

“Okay, okay.”

“I swear to god we’re never doing this again,” Shuu grumbled, “We’re getting Lean Cuisine next time.”

Yuuya took out another pan himself and turned on the stove, before adding oil and shrimp to fry it slightly. 

“How’s this?”

Shuu took a small spoon to take the sauce, feeding it to Yuuya.

“Pretty good,” Yuuya remarked, “Maybe more salt.”

“I’m going to turn it off.”

“You can make the pasta if you want,” Yuuya said, then remembering – “No, I’ll do it. You cook the shrimp.”

“I’m just taking a pot from the sink to the stove, Yuuya.”

“I’ll do it for you.”

“I can do it,” Shuu insisted, taking a pot and filling it up with water, “You stay there. I’ll prove it to you.”

“Okay,” Yuuya said reluctantly. He watched as Shuu filled up the pot, and held them firmly by the handle and carried the pot–

His right hand was trembling a little from the weight he was carrying, but he continued to grip firmly and walk on. 

“See, I’ve got it,” Shuu said, although he could see the water inside was rocking back and forth, almost spilling over the brim. He took his steps slower to try to get the water to calm down a little–

And then suddenly his right arm gave up, and although his left hand was still gripping the pot tight, it tipped over on its side. Yuuya quickly hopped over to catch the pot, but some water has spilled on the floor nevertheless.

“Okay, okay, be careful,” Yuuya said, “Don’t slip and fall, alright?”

“I’’m sorry–”

“No, it’s fine, it’s fine,” Yuuya said, looking down at the puddle on the floor – “That’s not too much water. We can mop it up easily.”

Yuuya steadily lifted the water pot and placed it on the stove, while Shuu stood there, staring at the water puddle he caused.

“Look, Yuuya, I’m really sorry–”

“It’s fine, it’s fine, you tried your best,” Yuuya said – “I’ll just clean this up real quick. Can you watch over the things on the stove?”

“S… sure.”

Shuu couldn’t help but be pretty impressed at how swiftly Yuuya dealt with the situation – okay, spilled some water, clean it up no problem.

Shuu decided to turn off the stove for the shrimp after they turned white (although he’s not too sure he’s doing it right) while Yuuya just ripped a few pieces of paper towels to wipe the floor. 

“I’m really sorry, Yuuya...”

“Shhh, it’s okay,” Yuuya said, “As long as you’re not hurt or anything.”

“But I should’ve–”

“It’s fine, it’s fine.”

Yuuya threw away the paper towel to the trash, before coming back to watch Shuu cook. 

“So just the pasta now right? That’s easy,” Yuuya said, opening a pack and pouring half of the contents in the water. 

“I don’t think we’re going to eat that much.”

“Well, we can always save some for later...” Yuuya was busy reading the back of the packet, “It says cook for five minutes…”

“I’ll watch it.”

“This is kind of fun, right?”

“I guess,” Shuu said, too focused on making sure the shrimp cook perfectly.

 

A few minutes later, finally they managed to get everything on a plate, and on the table.

“Well, that took us only an hour,” Yuuya said, while chewing his spaghetti, “I’d say we did pretty well.”

“Sorry I spilled the––”

“Just eat, Shuu,” Yuuya sighed, “That’s really good sauce.”

“I’m glad you like it.”

Yuuya couldn’t help but notice that Shuu was blushing a little – that’s really cute!! As heartless as he is, Shuu likes compliments after all.

“We should do this more often, don’t you think?”

“I mean, ramen’s a lot easier to cook.”

  
  
  



End file.
